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Today’s guest is Khaled Maziad, founder of Trading Roadmap and a trader who openly shares how he rebuilt consistency by fixing the piece most of us skip: psychology. Recorded as a practical, no-ego conversation, this interview dives into why Khaled’s work resonates with retail traders—he translates emotional snags into simple routines you can actually run, not theory you’ll forget by Monday. He talks candidly about juggling a business, trading setbacks, and the “beast within” that derails execution, then shows how he tamed it with structure, self-awareness, and a real plan.
In this piece, you’ll learn Khaled Maziad’s practical framework for mental clarity and risk discipline: how to separate feelings from actions, expand emotional capacity so losses don’t trigger revenge trades, and align risk across multiple positions without frying your nerves. We’ll unpack his five pillars—mindset, network, skills, time, tools—plus the feedback-loop habit that keeps your process improving even when the market won’t cooperate. If you’ve ever thought, “I’ll fix psychology later,” this is the blueprint to make profitable behavior your default.
Khaled Maziad Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Mindset-First Operating System
Before Khaled worries about charts, he builds the headspace to execute the plan he already trusts. This section turns “trade your plan” from a cliché into a set of routines you can run daily so emotions don’t hijack your decisions.
- Start the session with a 90-second breath + label routine: name the strongest feeling (e.g., “impatience,” “fear”), rate it 1–10, and write the number in your journal before opening your platform.
- Define your “green zone” conditions: trade only when sleep ≥ 7h, stress ≤ 5/10, and you’ve completed your pre-market checklist; otherwise, reduce size by 50% or stand down.
- Use a two-word trigger to reset mid-session (e.g., “process now”); if you use it twice within 15 minutes, step away for 5 minutes.
- Pre-commit to the first three actions after a loss (water, walk, re-read rules) to block revenge trading.
Risk Sizing That Protects Emotional Capacity
Khaled treats risk not just as math but as a load on your nervous system. These rules keep your downside aligned with what you can actually handle—so you can follow the plan when it matters most.
- Cap total daily portfolio risk at 0.75–1.25× your “calm risk” (the % you can lose without changing behavior); for many traders, that’s 0.25–0.50% per day.
- Hard stop per trade: 0.25–0.50R slippage buffer above the technical stop to reflect real fills.
- Never add size intraday if your emotion rating is ≥ 6/10—even if the setup improves.
- Use a 3-strike rule: after three execution errors (not outcomes), cut size to 25% for the day.
Set Up Selection With Context, Not Prediction
He doesn’t predict; he frames context, then hunts for asymmetric setups. This section gives you a tight filter so you’re not forcing trades when conditions aren’t there.
- Trade only two core play types for 90 days (e.g., pullback in trend; failed breakout fade). Everything else is “watch only.”
- Require two higher-timeframe agreements (e.g., daily trend + 4h structure) before entering your execution timeframe.
- If the average true range (ATR) shrinks ≥ 20% below its 20-day average, switch to a mean-reversion play; if ATR expands ≥ 20% above, favor momentum continuation.
- Stand aside for the first 30 minutes after major data releases unless the setup existed pre-event and the structure survived.
Entry Timing & Precision
Entries are about location and confirmation, not prediction. These rules put you where the risk/reward skews in your favor and keep you from chasing.
- Use a two-stage entry: 50% “probe” at the level, 50% only after confirmation (close back in structure or fresh momentum print).
- Place initial stop where the setup is invalidated, not where it “feels” safe; if that makes the size too small, skip the trade.
- If price travels 0.8R in your favor without filling the second tranche, cancel the add; don’t chase.
- Maximum of 2 re-entries per idea; a third attempt means your read is off—move on.
Trade Management: Let Winners Work, Kill Losers Fast
Khaled wants simple, mechanical actions once in the trade, so emotions stay out. You’ll scale, trail, and exit with rules that remove second-guessing.
- Pre-define three exit conditions: invalidation (hard stop), time stop (no progress after N bars), and profit structure (trail).
- Move stop to break-even only after the first partial at +1R or after a structural pivot forms—whichever comes first.
- Scale out 30–50% at +1R, then trail behind swing pivots or a volatility stop (e.g., 2× ATR on entry timeframe).
- If a trade comes within 0.2R of your target and reverses, take the next structural exit—don’t let a winner turn red.
Daily Process & Checklists
Consistency beats intensity. This mini-operating system makes your day repeatable, so you don’t need motivation to trade well.
- Pre-market (10–15 min): mark key levels, define bias by timeframe, write one “if-then” for each core setup.
- Mid-day audit (3 min): score execution (0–5), emotion (0–10), and adherence (Y/N). If adherence = N, size auto-cuts by 50% for the next trade.
- End-of-day: log top 2 decisions (good or bad) with screenshot; tag error types (#late, #early, #size, #impulse).
- Weekly: pick one error tag to eliminate; write a single constraint that would have blocked it (e.g., “no impulse trades within 5 minutes of news”).
Journaling That Actually Changes Behavior
Khaled’s journal is built to produce upgrades, not prose. Here’s how you make the feedback loop bite.
- For each trade, record: context snapshot, trigger, risk (R), emotion rating at entry/exit, and a one-line “what I’d repeat/ditch.”
- Track only three metrics for 4 weeks: expectancy (R), adherence rate (%), and error count. Ignore P&L until adherence ≥ 80%.
- Create a “one tweak” card every Sunday: one process change for the week, not three.
- Review the last 20 trades by setup; if a setup’s expectancy < 0.2R after 20 trades, shelve it for 30 days.
Portfolio-Level Risk & Correlation
Multiple good trades can still create bad exposure. These rules keep your book diversified across drivers, not just tickers.
- Cap concurrent correlated risk at 1.0R across assets that share the same driver (e.g., USD strength, high-beta momentum).
- If adding a position raises total open risk > 1.5R, you must reduce size on an existing trade or skip the add.
- Use a rolling 10-day correlation view; if two names run > 0.7 correlation, treat them as the same trade for sizing limits.
- One “big bet” at a time: max 1 position ≥ 0.75R initial risk.
Time Management for Part-Time or Busy Traders
Khaled optimizes for constraint: business, family, and markets must coexist. These rules help you trade well with limited time.
- Choose one primary session (e.g., first 90 minutes of London or NY); outside that window, alerts-only and no new entries.
- Pre-build alerts at key levels; if the alert triggers outside your session, act only if your plan allowed for it pre-market.
- Batch reviews: 20 minutes Sunday, 10 minutes mid-week—no scoreboard watching during off hours.
- Keep a “parking lot” list for ideas to revisit rather than forcing them into the current session.
Tools & Templates He Leans On
Keep tooling light and repeatable. The goal isn’t complexity; it’s consistency and speed under stress.
- Chart stack: higher timeframe for bias (D/4h), execution timeframe (1h/15m), and a volatility lens (ATR or Keltner).
- One page of rules pinned near your screen: max risk, entry checklist, management protocol, stop hierarchy.
- Use named alerts (e.g., “EURUSD 4h prior high sweep”) so you know the context instantly when it fires.
- Maintain a “Playbook” deck: 10–20 annotated slides of your two core setups with ideal vs. non-ideal examples.
Behavior Contracts & Accountability
Discipline scales with visibility. Make your rules public to your future self and, optionally, a trusted peer.
- Write a 5-line behavior contract: what you trade, when you trade, max risk, stop-trading triggers, and your review cadence.
- After any day with adherence < 70%, your next session is SIM only; real size resumes after two clean SIM sessions.
- Share your weekly “one tweak” with an accountability partner every Sunday.
- Keep a visible “Do Not Do” list (e.g., “no adding to losers,” “no trades in first 3 minutes”) next to your hotkeys.
Scaling Up Without Breaking the System
Growth should feel boring, not heroic. Increase the size only when the machine proves it can handle more heat.
- Raise risk by 10–15% only after 30 consecutive trades with adherence ≥ 85% and expectancy ≥ 0.3R.
- When you scale, widen your cool-off rules: two losses in a row → step back to review before next entry.
- Add a third setup only after two profitable, documented setups across 100 trades.
- Keep a “de-scale” lever: if drawdown reaches 3R from equity highs, cut size by 50% until back to breakeven.
Size Risk To Your Emotional Capacity, Not Just Account Math
Khaled Maziad argues that risk has two ledgers: the spreadsheet and your nervous system. If your size is technically “correct” but emotionally destabilizing, it will still wreck execution. Start by defining your calm-risk—the loss you can take without changing behavior—and cap daily exposure around that. If a position threatens that calm boundary, shrink it or skip it.
He also ties size to real-world stress by using a quick pre-trade emotion score. When the score is elevated, he automatically halves the risk to preserve decision quality. Khaled Maziad treats slippage and volatility as emotion multipliers and adds a small buffer to stops to reflect fills, not fantasies. The goal isn’t bravado; it’s to keep your mind quiet enough to follow the plan.
Let Volatility Guide Entries, Targets, And When To Stand Down
Khaled Maziad treats volatility as the steering wheel, not an afterthought. When ATR is expanding, he looks for momentum continuations and only takes entries near structure breaks, not in the middle of the move. When ATR contracts, he shifts to mean-reversion plays and demands cleaner levels with tighter invalidation. The point is simple: your playbook changes with the tape’s speed, and Khaled Maziad won’t force a fast strategy in a slow market.
Stops and targets flex with the environment, so the R you plan is the R you live. In higher volatility, he widens stops to the real invalidation point and scales out earlier to bank realized R before the whip. In quieter conditions, he tightens risk, lowers expectations, and stands down entirely if the range can’t justify the cost of doing business. Volatility tells Khaled Maziad when to press, when to clip, and when to keep powder dry.
Trade Context Over Prediction: Two Timeframes Align Before Pulling the Trigger
Khaled Maziad emphasizes reading context, not guessing outcomes. He starts with a higher-timeframe anchor—often the daily and 4-hour—to define trend, key levels, and likely path. If those two timeframes disagree, he stands down because mixed signals create mixed behavior. Only when the higher-timeframe narrative is clear does he drop to the execution chart to hunt precise entries.
On the execution timeframe, Khaled Maziad wants the trigger to rhyme with the big-picture story: a pullback to structure in an uptrend, or a failed breakout at resistance in a range. He sets invalidation at the level that breaks the story, not where it merely stings, and sizes the trade to survive natural noise. If price action shifts the narrative mid-trade—say, a fresh lower high against a long—he reduces risk or exits without debate. Context writes the script; the trigger only cues the scene.
Diversify By Driver, Strategy, And Duration To Control Correlation
Khaled Maziad frames diversification as risk engineering, not collecting tickers. He separates trades by underlying driver—macro theme, liquidity regime, or catalyst—so two different symbols don’t secretly behave like one position. He mixes strategies as well, pairing momentum continuation with mean-reversion or breakout-fade, so the edge isn’t tied to a single market mood. Duration matters too; staggering intraday, swing, and multi-day holds keep equity swings smoother when one timeframe gets choppy.
Khaled Maziad also watches rolling correlation, so portfolio heat never sneaks past comfort. When drivers begin converging—say, everything is just a bet on dollar strength—he cuts position count or size before volatility clusters. He prefers one high-conviction exposure per dominant driver instead of three crowded lookalikes that all move together. If a fresh setup would push total correlated risk too high, it waits in the parking lot until something exits. The aim is simple: different engines, different clocks, one calm trader.
Process Discipline: Predefined Actions After Loss Prevent Revenge Trades
Khaled Maziad treats post-loss behavior like a checklist, not a character test. He hardwires three moves after any stop: step away for five minutes, drink water, and re-read the entry rules that were just violated or validated. The pause resets the nervous system; the rules review resets the plan. If emotions still feel hot, Khaled Maziad cuts the size to 25% for the next attempt or locks the platform for a timed cool-off.
He also makes the next decision mechanical to starve impulse. The next trade must be one of his two core setups, pre-written with location, invalidation, and size—no ad-libbing allowed. He tags the loss with a single error code (#late, #early, #size, #impulse) and writes one constraint that would’ve blocked it. If two losses occur back-to-back, he flips to SIM until one clean, rule-perfect trade is logged. The goal, as Khaled Maziad repeats, is simple: protect the process and the process protects the account.
Khaled Maziad’s core message is that consistency starts between your ears and then flows into your charts. He sizes risk to his emotional capacity first, sets daily guardrails before price even moves, and treats volatility as the dial that determines which play gets called. Context beats prediction: he wants two higher timeframes telling the same story before he ever drops to the trigger chart. Once in, management is mechanical—partials at known milestones, trails behind real structure, time stops when price stalls, and zero tolerance for turning a green trade into red.
He diversifies by driver, strategy, and duration so one regime can’t bully his equity curve, and he actively caps correlated heat across the book. The daily operating system—pre-market checklist, mid-session audit, and end-of-day review—keeps behavior honest and scalable. After any loss, Khaled Maziad follows a predefined recovery script to block revenge trades, tags the error, and installs one constraint to remove it next time. When metrics prove the process (expectancy up, adherence high, errors down), he scales the size in small, boring steps. The takeaway is simple: engineer a calm, rules-first environment, and the strategy finally performs like it should.
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